MANCHESTER — Mario Balotelli is on his way out of Manchester City after partying 12 hours before Sunday’s game.
Report by The Sun
Balotelli was seen entering the Panacea Restaurant and Bar in Alderley Edge at 1am — with City kicking off at 1:30pm against Spurs that afternoon. The Italian, (22), watched the match from the stands.
It means Roberto Mancini will now get the OK to make a club-record £45million bid for Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao once he gets rid of Balotelli. This is just the latest controversial incident involving the City bad-boy.
An eye witness said: “He arrived at Panacea with a big entourage and certainly hadn’t dressed down for the occasion.
“I was astonished that he would be so brazen being seen out partying so close to a match, whether he was playing or not.”
Balotelli had been axed from the City squad the previous day and told he was not required at the team hotel that night. But he could still have been needed had one of the other three strikers been taken ill.
Panacea advertises itself as the “Social Hub” of Alderley Edge where a bottle of Krug Collection Champagne costs £1 000.
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Balotelli has not officially broken any rules by being out as he was not in the squad, but eyebrows have been raised at City.
Mancini will be ready to listen to offers from both Milan clubs. Colombian Falcao will cost City £45m — dwarfing the £38m they paid Atletico for Sergio Aguero.
But club chiefs are willing to fund a January move if they can get back the £24m they paid Inter for Balo in August 2010.
Chelsea are also eyeing Falcao, who has hit 49 goals in 60 Atletico appearances. Falcao will demand £200 000-a-week wages and Mancini is understood to have already met his agent Jorge Mendes.
